Prattville Mayor Jim Byard Jr. said he was not surprised Tuesday when the city council delayed authorizing him to borrow $3.1 million to help make a bond payment due Nov. 1.

Byard asked the council for approval to borrow the money from River Bank and Trust, a $3.1 million payment that is 47 percent of Prattville's total debt service this fiscal year.

RB&T was selected because they had the lowest rate, Byard said. City Councilman Mike Renegar last night requested that every financial institution in Prattville be given a chance to offer proposals on the loan by Monday, Byard said.

The $3.1 million is a short-term
loan, a 180-day note, that does not go toward the city's long-term debt. The total amount of debt owed by the city is just under $59 million, most in 20-year bonds, Byard said.

The council will hold a work session Monday and a special meeting Oct. 26 to discuss ways to make the payment. Both meetings are at 6 p.m. at City Hall.

Byard does not want to make the payment out of existing city reserves because it would leave the city with too little cash on hand.

Byard said, as of Friday, there was $5.2 million on hand in the
Prattville cash reserve; the reserve total varies daily as expenses are paid and revenue received.

"Making that payment out of our reserves, just one month into our fiscal year, would leave our cash reserve balance low during this, the leanest quarter of each fiscal year," he said. "This short-term loan is a business decision that is efficient and allows us to equalize our cash flow while maintaining our cash revenues."

Byard said that while the U.S. economic woes have had an impact on Prattville, the city remains fiscally sound and finished this past fiscal year with a 3.86 percent increase in total sales tax collections.